BILLIONAIRE’S BARGAIN

Mara POV I stare at the contract on Lucien Cross's mahogany desk, my father's medical bills scattered beside . Each invoice screams a number I can't afford. $847,000 for spinal surgery. $1.2 million for ongoing care. $500,000 in business debts that'll never be paid. My hands shake. "Second thoughts, Miss Quinn?" Lucien's voice cuts through the silence. I force myself to look up at him. He sits across from me, perfectly still in his three-piece suit, steel-blue eyes watching me. His dark hair is styled to perfection. His jaw is set. Everything about him screams control. "No," I lie, gripping the pen tighter. "Just reading the terms." Adrian Cole, his lawyer, shifts uncomfortably in the chair beside me. He's younger than Lucien, maybe Twenty-nine or Thirty, with kind eyes that keep darting between us. "The terms are non-negotiable," Lucien says flatly, he doesn't blink. "Two years of marriage, full public compliance. No romantic entanglements outside the arrangement. Complete discretion regarding the financial nature of our agreement." I swallow hard. "Why me?" I asked. "You could marry anyone. Someone from your world who actually wants this." "Because everyone from my world wants something from me." Lucien leaned back in his chair. "Money, status, access. They'd pretend to love me while calculating their profit margin. You, Miss Quinn, have the advantage of honesty. You need me, but you don't want me. That's refreshingly uncomplicated." "And what do you get?" I asked. "My inheritance." His answer was immediate. "My father requires me to marry by thirty-two or lose controlling interest in Cross Holdings. I'm thirty-two in six months." "So marry someone you actually like." "I don’t like anyone, Miss Quinn. That’s the point.” He set down his phone, finally giving me his full attention. “This is business, and I find you very interesting. After you poured those six champagne flutes on me without remorse, I searched for you and got all the information I needed about your background. And here I am, having found the best way to punish you for it—and equally be useful to me.” My mind flashed back six months to the Heritage Foundation Gala. I'd been refilling glasses at the bar,exhausted from working two jobs, when I heard his voice. Lucien had walked past with his entourage, barely glancing at the "help" as he made some cutting remark about us being "adequately decorative." He'd gestured vaguely in my direction without actually looking at me. Like I was furniture that needed dusting. Something inside me snapped. I'd been working sixty-hour weeks at a paralegal job that was supposed to be temporary. I'd been juggling Dad's medical appointments and Mom's prescriptions and Diana's insurance appeals. I'd been drowning in debt that grew faster than I could breathe. And this billionaire in his custom tuxedo was complaining about the help. I'd stepped forward, leaned close to his shoulder. "How unfortunate." He'd turned, irritated. "Excuse me?" "That you've spent so much on that tuxedo but still lack basic human decency." I smiled sweetly. "One would think expensive boarding schools would teach that." Then I tilted my tray. Six champagne flutes slid forward, dumping their contents down the front of his Tom Ford tuxedo. "Oh dear," I'd said, my eyes wide with fake horror. "How clumsy. I suppose that's what happens when you hire help without basic competence." Then I'd told him exactly what I thought of billionaires who treated people like furniture. His associates had looked horrified. He'd looked… intrigued. I'd set down the tray, walked off the event floor, and gotten fired via text before I reached the lobby. Worth it, I'd thought. I thought dumping champagne on him was the worst night of my life. It wasn't. Two nights earlier I came home late. Victor and one of his guys were waiting in the hallway. Victor grabbed my wrist. "Five hundred grand by Friday or your sister has an accident." He showed me a picture of Diana leaving work. I had begged for more time, but instead he twisted my arm until I dropped to my knees. "Friday," he repeated, then let go. I locked the door, slid down it, and sat on the floor shaking. I had no money, no options and no one to call. On Tuesday evening, when Lucien Cross appeared at my apartment door at 6 p.m., holding a manila folder. "I have a proposal," he'd said. Now here I was. "My family's debt," I force out. "All $3.2 million cleared immediately?" "Upon signing." Lucien taps one finger on the desk. "Your father's medical expenses are covered. Your mother's therapy was funded. Your sister's education paid in full. The apartment in Riverside District is already secured in your parents' name, your debts with the loan sharks are all cleared off." It should sound generous. Instead, it sounds like a prison sentence with benefits. I think of Dad in his wheelchair, pain etched into every line of his face. Mom's anxiety attacks are getting worse. Diana gave up dance to work double shifts at Target. This contract is a noose, but it's also oxygen. "And after two years?" My voice cracks despite my best efforts.